Pre-Project Training Module

For university students

More info: www.X-Culture.org

Contact us: Academy@X-Cutlure.org

Updated: July14, 2024

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 Contents

PART I: WHAT IS X-CULTURE AND HOW IT WORKS ................................................................................................. 3

The Task.............................................................................................................................................................................. 3
Weekly Progress Surveys.................................................................................................................................................... 3
Evaluation (Grading/Marking) ............................................................................................................................................ 4
Plagiarism............................................................................................................................................................................ 4
Expected Time Investment.................................................................................................................................................. 5
Coaching ............................................................................................................................................................................. 5
X-Culture International Collaboration Certificates ............................................................................................................. 5
X-Culture Global Symposium............................................................................................................................................. 6

PART II: THE HUMAN SIDE OF WORKING IN GVTs..................................................................................................... 7

Teams vs. Individual Participants ....................................................................................................................................... 7
Workload Distribution and Team Member Roles ............................................................................................................... 7
Team Leadership ................................................................................................................................................................. 8
Communication ................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Motivation, Commitment, and Free-Riding ........................................................................................................................ 9
Conflicts .............................................................................................................................................................................. 9
Sexual Harassment and Bullying ...................................................................................................................................... 10
Known Challenges and Best Practices .............................................................................................................................. 10
Time-zone differences ................................................................................................................................................... 10
Not being able to schedule a teleconference ................................................................................................................. 10
Email overload .............................................................................................................................................................. 10
Conflicting copies of the document in email attachments ............................................................................................. 10
Calendar differences ..................................................................................................................................................... 11
Language proficiency differences ................................................................................................................................. 11
Cultural and Other Differences .................................................................................................................................... 11
Lack of leadership, difficulties with workload distribution and team coordination: .................................................... 11
Lack of commitment from some team members, “Free-Riders”: ................................................................................. 12
Poor quality of work from some team members: .......................................................................................................... 12
Plagiarism and improper use of generative AI:............................................................................................................ 13
Failing to harness the power of a team: ....................................................................................................................... 13
Have a Strong Start by “Breaking the Ice” ....................................................................................................................... 15

PART III: THE TECHNICAL SIDE .................................................................................................................................... 17

The X-Culture Guide on the Use of Generative AI .............................................................................................................. 21
The ‘Friend’ Test .............................................................................................................................................................. 21
Recommended Tools......................................................................................................................................................... 21
Guidelines on AI Use ........................................................................................................................................................ 21
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................................ 21
How To Get Feedback From AI ........................................................................................................................................... 22

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES .............................................................................................................................................. 23

(Optional, not tested on Readiness Test)........................................................................................................................... 23

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 PART I: WHAT IS X-CULTURE AND HOW IT WORKS

X-Culture is a project designed to offer students an opportunity to work in a global virtual team (GVT) and
complete a project for a real business client and, in the process, experience the challenges and learn the best
practices of global virtual collaboration and business consulting.

Just like a real business project involving people from different countries, participation in X-Culture is very
demanding. You will experience problems and conflicts. There will be times when you will be frustrated and
upset. Some of your team members will disappoint you. However, you will also learn a lot in the process. When
you work again in a GVT as part of your job, you will be much better prepared. You will know better what to
expect and how to resolve problems when they arise.

You will also have many pleasant experiences, moments of discovery, personal and professional growth. You
will meet people from around the world, make friends, learn about new cultures and businesses, as well as
acquire new skills and qualifications that will help you in your career.

When the project ends, you will be happy you had this experience. You will also receive an X-Culture
certificate and recommendation letter that will significantly improve your chances of getting a good job.

The challenges you will experience in X-Culture are precisely the same challenges you will experience when
you have to work in a team as part of your future job. X-Culture is like a time machine that shows you what will
happen to you when you work with people from around the world as part of your job. It will not be any
different, and the better you learn how to deal with those challenges now, the more effective you will be on a
similar project.

The Task

You will be working in an international team of 5-6 people for about eight weeks. Every semester, we select
several companies that present their real-life international business challenges. Your team will have to select
one of those challenges and present your solution in the form of a report.

The detailed list of tasks to be completed for each challenge is provided in the Challenge Instructions that are
posted on the project resource page:

Early Track resource page: www.x-culture.org/2024-2a (access code: 20242).

Late Track resource page: www.x-culture.org/2024-2b (access code: 20242).

Weekly Progress Surveys

All X-Culture participants must complete weekly progress surveys. The surveys will ask you to report your
progress and answer a few questions about your team. The information will be used to identify participants who
may be struggling so we can provide help. The data will also be used for research purposes so we can better
understand why some teams perform better than others and how the project can be improved in the future.

Each week, around Wednesday, each student will receive an email containing your weekly performance review
and your personal progress survey link. The surveys are due every Monday, 11:59 pm EST (New York time
zone).

IMPORTANT: Please do not wait until you receive the email with the survey link to start working on that
week’s task. All weekly tasks are listed in the Challenge Instructions, and the email will provide no new
information, only the link to the survey. You can complete the work at any time and submit your progress
survey between Wednesday and Monday of each week.

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 Evaluation (Grading/Marking)
Most X-Culture participants are university students participating in the project as part of a course. For most
students, the project constitutes 20-50 percent of the course grade/mark. There are also a few teams comprised
of non-student professionals. They are completing the project for international business training and experience
and are not receiving academic grades/marks for their work.

We track the performance of all X-Culture participants and teams, including university students and non-student
professionals. The following information is collected and used to (1) identify problems and provide help when
needed, (2) select the best teams at the end of the project, and (3) provide the instructors with the necessary
information to give their students project grades/marks:

• Performance on the Readiness Test (percent of the correctly answered questions, must get at least 80%
to be placed on a team).

• Ability to meet weekly deadlines as per the completion of weekly progress reports.

• Weekly peer evaluations (if participating in a team):

o Effort
o Intellectual contribution
o Leadership and help with team coordination
o Friendliness and collegiality
o Help with writing the report

• Quality of the report (as evaluated by expert appraisers):

o Quality of each report part
o Creativity and novelty of the teams
o Depth of analysis, the strength of the arguments
o Formatting and presentation
o Plagiarism (reports are automatically checked for plagiarism)

For most students, the quality of the report accounts for 40-60% of the project grade/mark, peer evaluations for
30-50%, and weekly progress reports for 10-20%. Each instructor determines the exact grade/mark structure to
ensure it fits the course structure and institutional policies.

IMPORTANT: Students who receive negative peer evaluations (below 2.0 on a 5.0 scale) will receive a
warning. If the peer evaluations do not improve (below 2.0 two weeks in a row), the person will be excluded
from the team.

Plagiarism

All reports are automatically checked for plagiarism. The system checks millions of online sources and
identifies all parts of the report copied and pasted. Some similarities are acceptable (e.g., correctly cited quotes
and extracts), but if a substantial portion of the report has been copied and pasted or the work of others is not
properly cited, the report will be flagged for plagiarism. The results of the plagiarism analysis are automatically
shared with the X-Culture admin and all participating instructors. Any project participants who submit
plagiarized work will be immediately removed from the competition.

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 Expected Time Investment

Approx. Combined
Task, Students Hours
Before the project starts:
Pre-project review of the materials 1-3
Readiness Test 1

During the project:

Correspondence with teammates, per week 1-2
Research and report write up, per week 1-2
Other unexpected tasks and issues that need to be addressed 1-2

After the project:

Post-project survey 1
TOTAL over the entire semester 20-40 hours

Coaching

As a volunteer program, peer coaches will be available to X-Culture participants. The coaches are former X-
Culture participants who successfully completed the project, applied for it, and were accepted to the coaching
program. They receive additional training in cross-cultural communication and conflict resolution, as well as
business report writing. They will be able to help you with the following:

• Provide feedback on your work, point out problems and suggest improvements;
• Help resolve challenges your team may experience with coordination, leadership, scheduling, workload
distribution, and more;
• Help deal with personal challenges, ranging from bullying and harassment to interpersonal conflicts, to
other personal issues.

It is important to understand that the coaches are not your team leaders or decision-makers. Their job is only to
advise you, provide feedback on your work, or direct you to the right resource. You and your team are
responsible for your team and personal decisions, deadlines, and work.

You can request coaching help here: rebrand.ly/xculturecoaching - and your case will be assigned to an
available coach specialized in your particular area of concern.

More serious cases (sexual harassment, bullying) will be directed to the experienced professors on the
X-Culture Executive team.

More about the X-Culture Global Virtual Team Coaching program can be found here.

X-Culture International Collaboration Certificates

Every participant who successfully completes the project will receive an X-Culture certificate. Electronic high-
resolution print-ready certificates will be sent to instructors who can print and distribute them to the students at
the end of the project.

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 X-Culture Global Symposium

Twice a year, the best students are invited to the X-Culture Symposium.

You can find the full list of past events here: https://x-culture.org/category/meetings, including:

• Istanbul, Turkey at the Mercedes-Benz (full-cycle bus and truck production factory)
• Atlanta, GA, USA, hosted by Home Depot
• Miami, FL, USA, hosted by Louis Vuitton
• Savannah, GA, USA, hosted by JCB (manufacturing equipment)
• Aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, Tampa – Cozumel Island – Tampa; hosted by Sykes and Forcier
Consulting
• Miami, FL, USA, hosted by Hard Rock International, UPS, and American Airlines
• Washington, DC, USA, hosted per Perkins
• Macerata, Italy, hosted by five different companies: Nuova Simonelli S.P.A. (Espresso Machine
manufacturer), Eurosuole S.P.A. (soles producer); Cocci Grifoni Srl (Vineyards); Macerata Opera
Festival; and supporting company visit, iGuzzini (Lighting)
• Nashville, TN, USA, hosted by Soles4Souls
• Calgary, Canada, hosted by the Calgary International Airport, the City of Calgary Municipal Land
Management Corporation, and the Lake Louise Ski Resort.
• San Antonio, TX, USA, hosted by Rackspace
• Panama City, FL, USA, hosted by Larsen Motorsports
• Lublin, Poland, hosted by the City of Lublin and four local companies
• Atlanta, GA, hosted by YKK (google this company, you likely have been using their products all your
life and have a few of them on you now without knowing it)
• Chiang Rai, Thailand, hosted by five local companies)

More information about all of these events can be found here.

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 PART II: THE HUMAN SIDE OF WORKING IN GVTs

Please start with this short conversation about common interpersonal challenges and best practices of working
in Global Virtual Teams (GVT) (watch on YouTube ►).

We study the dynamics and performance in global virtual teams in-depth and have learned a lot about global
virtual collaboration’s challenges and best practices, why some teams perform better than others, and what can
be done to improve individual and team performance. This training module aims to share that knowledge with
the X-Culture participants.

We first review the challenges and best practices related to interpersonal issues, such as team member
coordination, scheduling, workload distribution, team leadership, and interpersonal and intercultural conflict.
Then, we provide an overview of online collaboration tools that are very useful for communicating in GVTs.

Teams vs. Individual Participants

X-Culture is designed for students seeking to gain experience in international collaboration. Completing a
project in a GVT is the main reason students participate in X-Culture.

However, X-Culture is also open to non-student participants. Everyone interested in international business and
consulting is welcome to participate in the competition to gain international business experience, receive the X-
Culture Certificate, and possibly win the Best Report prize.

While student participants are required to complete the project in teams, non-student participants can choose to
compete in X-Culture individually. Also, some instructors whose courses focus on business problem-solving
rather than international collaboration may decide to allow their students to participate in X-Culture
individually. Likewise, students whose performance is unsatisfactory may be excluded from the team, in which
case they usually are dropped from X-Culture and receive a failing grade in their course.

Students excluded from their teams will be allowed to complete the project individually, but please check with
your instructor if this is allowed in your course. The participants who are completing the project individually
will follow the same schedule and complete the same tasks. The only difference is that in the peer evaluation
section of their weekly progress surveys, they will see only one name (their own) and thus will only have to
submit a self-evaluation of their own performance.

Workload Distribution and Team Member Roles

X-Culture allows each team to decide on the roles and tasks for each team member. However, some approaches
work better than others.

1. The workload split by report section: Team members distribute the workload by assigning each team
member to write one or two report sections. Under this approach, the team members work largely
independently, each focusing on his/her report sections. The intent is to merge those individual sections
into a final report at the end of the project.

Our research shows that this approach often does not work well. First, there are always team members
who do not do their part well. Some plagiarize, some write a weak section, and some do not prepare
anything at all. Usually, the team finds out about the problem only at the end of the project when it is too
late.

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 Second, a lack of communication among team members results in report sections not corresponding to
one another and giving contradictory advice.

Third, and most importantly, teamwork’s real value is in collaborative creation. The best ideas are
proposed when the entire team brainstorms each report question. When team members work
independently, the team loses the opportunity to exchange ideas, build upon each other’s work, and
collectively develop a solution that no team member could have developed individually.

2. The workload split by function: Rather than each team member working on a particular report section,
one team member may be responsible for coordination, another one for searching for information and
literature, another for putting it all together, and another for final copy-editing and submitting the report.
In this case, all team members together brainstorm all issues, record all initial ideas, but then task one
team member to put it all together and coordinate team efforts, two or three team members to focus on
report writing, a native English speaker copy-edits the document, and more technically inclined team
members may take care of data analysis and report formatting.

Our experience shows that Option 2 works much better than Option 1.

Team Leadership

X-Culture admin does not assign team leaders. Each member of your team will receive the names and email
addresses of the people on the team, and it will be up to the team to decide how to distribute the workload and
coordinate.

Our research shows that teams tend to perform better when they either formally elect a team coordinator or have
an informal team leader who coordinates team members’ efforts, sends out reminders, etc.

There is no bonus for being a team leader and no penalty for not being one. Usually, team members are flexible
about who does what, so if you are interested in a particular role, your team will likely support that.

While most students think that cultural differences or poor language skills will present the biggest problems, our
data show that most serious problems arise from decision-making delays. If the team lacks coordination,
making a simple decision may take days, if not weeks.

Teams that have a team coordinator tend to make faster decisions. It works even better if the team coordinator
keeps track of workload distribution, sends reminders, and does other coordination work.

If no leader emerges in your team naturally in the first few days of the project, don’t wait for someone else to
tell you what to do. Be proactive and take the initiative. Your team will appreciate it.

Communication

It is up to your team to decide how you will communicate with each other. Much like in the corporate
environment, you will receive only the names and emails of your team members, so you will have to initiate
contact via email. Once contact is established, you will have many free and effective communication tools
available to discuss ideas and co-edit the team report. Some teams rely on emails and document attachments
only. Most teams also use Zoom, Skype, Facebook, WhatsApp, Discord, and other chat and conferencing tools.
Other popular tools are Slack, Google Docs, Google+, Dropbox, Viber, and Doodle. A detailed explanation of
how each of these tools works is provided at the end of this document.

Our research shows that teams that go beyond simple email communication and use more advanced tools such
as Skype, Dropbox, and Google Docs tend to perform better. If you rely only on email, you will likely end up

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with multiple conflicting copies of the same file. It will also be challenging to track who did what and how
much progress the team has made.

Also, note that the tools listed above are the same or similar tools used by corporate employees and managers
worldwide. We encourage you to try at least some of them. Multi-user voice conversations and video
conversations provide a much richer communication medium than email. Dropbox and Google Docs make co-
editing a team report much easier than sending multiple email attachments back and forth. Scheduling a team
meeting using Doodle is very easy, and Google Docs provide an excellent opportunity for an anonymous
discussion if you need to discuss a sensitive issue, and openness is essential. Learning to use these tools will
help you in your future career.

Motivation, Commitment, and Free-Riding

Virtual teams are very different from face-to-face teams. In traditional collocated teams, team members know one
another, spend time together, and have shared experiences and common interests; they are like one another. In
virtual teams, team members often do not even know what other team members look like. They have little shared
experiences, often different cultural backgrounds, and little in common. So, the members of virtual teams never
develop the same social ties and don’t feel the same sense of obligation to their team members.

As a result, members of GVTs are much more likely to shirk responsibilities (a.k.a., free-ride, free-load, slack).

Research reports that up to 30% of members of corporate GVTs do not sufficiently contribute to their team (are
free-riders). In X-Culture, this number is approximately 5% in student teams and about 8% in professional teams.

The most obvious performance cost due to free-riding is forfeiture of labor. However, a team’s performance is
further damaged by the increased coordination and internal maintenance cost necessitated by free-riding. Once
free riding occurs, the workflow gets broken, and deadlines can be missed, creating process loss by requiring
intensified process management efforts to resolve coordination problems and develop a new plan.

Further, probably the most devastating effect of free-riding is that it damages team morale. Free-riders trigger the
vicious “rotten apple” cycle. Free-riding induces a feeling of injustice, which undermines team morale, which
undermines effort, which leads to more free-riding. Soon enough, conflicts occur, a blame game starts, and team
performance collapses. One “rotten apple” spoils the entire barrel.

Our research shows that much of the free-riding occurs not because some team members are lazy or do not care,
but because they are overwhelmed by the complexities of GVTwork and just do not know what to do.

It helps a lot to have a discussion early on in the project and decide who does what, when, and how, and what
happens if somebody is not doing his or her work. It is also important to plan for some free-riding. Expect to
“lose” at least one team member to free-riding at some point and have a plan in place for how the team will
handle the situation when one or more team members are not doing their work.

Conflicts

When every team member comes from a different culture and the task is very demanding, conflicts happen all the
time. You will likely experience at least some conflicts in your team. This is normal and inevitable. If a dispute
occurs, stay professional. Do not call the other party names. Do not use threats. Do not get personal.

Our research shows that conflicts are best resolved when parties acknowledge the disagreement and try to reach a
consensus. Rather than arguing and fighting, it is better to say something like: “I see we have different opinions
on this issue; let’s see where we differ, ask what the rest of the team thinks, and together find a mutually
acceptable solution.”

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If the conflict gets personal and involves name-calling, make copies of such correspondence and submit a request
via rebrand.ly/xculturecoaching. A coach will be assigned to your case, reviewing your documentation and, if
needed, reaching out to other team members to collect more information. Depending on the situation, the coach
will either try to help you resolve the conflict or recommend a different course of action, all the way to the
exclusion of a team member (e.g., if the team member behaves unprofessionally and is not cooperating in
resolving the conflict).

Sexual Harassment and Bullying

Although very rare, we occasionally receive complaints about sexual harassment. For example, one team member
stalks a another team member, making their membership on the team uncomfortable. It may involve explicit
comments about the team member’s appearance, liking all team members’ photos on social media, repeated
requests for live video chat or a meeting in person, and other behaviors. When confronted about it, the
explanation is usually cultural: “I was just trying to be gentlemen and show my interest and respect for my female
team member. I did not think she would not like it.” Other forms of sexual harassment or unsolicited attention are
also possible. In extremely rare cases, some team members may react aggressively when rejected.

Although these cases are extremely rare, we take them very seriously. If anything makes you uncomfortable or
you witness any form of harassment or bullying, please inform the X-Culture Admin at Admin@X-Culture.org
immediately. We will try our best to address the situation and, if needed, may even exclude from X-Culture, the
student who is behaving unprofessionally.

Known Challenges and Best Practices

Time-zone differences make communication in GVTs very slow. If you are in the U.S. and you email your team
member in Japan, the person is likely sleeping and will not see your message until tomorrow. You will likely
be sleeping when the reply is sent, so you will not see the reply until two days later - even if each team
member replies once the message is read. Due to these time-zone differences, the team members are rarely
able to exchange more than 2-3 messages per week.

It works best if teams have occasional real-time Zoom, Skype, or Facebook conversations. These live video
calls will also typically make your team members feel more bonded and accountable to one another. Students
have reported that video calls with other students worldwide were a real project highlight.

Not being able to schedule a teleconference: It may be a real hassle for GVTs to find a time that works for all
team members for a teleconference or to vote on an issue. Sending emails back and forth takes time and often
leads to much confusion.

It works best when the team uses Doodle.com to find a time that works for everybody or to get everyone’s
vote on an issue.

Email overload: When teams rely on email-only communication, they often end up with dozens of emails that
are difficult to follow and are full of redundancies and conflicting information.

It works best if the team creates a Facebook, WhatsApp, or Discord group or a Google Docs discussion board.
This way, all correspondence is permanently saved, and it is easy to review the entire conversation.

Conflicting copies of the document in email attachments: When teams rely on email attachments to co-develop
the team report, it may be hard to track which attachment is the latest version of the file. Somebody always
makes edits to an older version of the file, and the team ends up with conflicting copies of the document.
Merging those files may be a real challenge.

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 It works best if the team uses Dropbox or Google Docs to co-develop documents. This way, only one copy of
the document is stored in the cloud, and everyone is working with the same single copy of the file.

Calendar differences: Members of GVTs come from countries that have different holidays and academic
calendars. Your business day may be your team member’s holiday. This often disrupts teamwork flow and
leads to unexpected delays.

It works best if you find out in advance when each team member will be unavailable and plan your workflow
accordingly.

Language proficiency differences: English is the working language. For most team members, however, English
will not be their first language. This may lead to communication difficulties. Moreover, those who are not
fluent in English tend to do a poor job if asked to write a complete report section.

It works best if the team members who are not fluent in English are assigned tasks that do not require them to
produce finished written pieces. For example, they can be assigned to search for information and literature,
perform coordination tasks, submit reports, and possibly write initial drafts of some report sections. Team
members who are more fluent in English, in turn, should be assigned to do more writing and possibly final
copy-editing of the report.

Cultural and Other Differences: Your team members will differ in many ways. You will come from different
cultural backgrounds, and your values, attitudes, traditions, work, and communication styles will differ. You
will also be taught and evaluated by different instructors, so you will likely have different levels of skills and
a different understanding of the task.

It works best if you try to turn those differences into opportunities. You come from different backgrounds,
have different knowledge, and have different ideas. You have access to different libraries and resources.
Brainstorming tends to be particularly effective, and more creative ideas are generated when team members
are different. So, rather than assigning different report sections to different members and letting them work
independently, communicate frequently and use brainstorming and discussions whenever possible. Don’t
dismiss the ideas of others just because they are different from yours. Learn from each other. The more
different ideas you have on the table, the more likely you are to have a solution that is the most creative and
effective.

Lack of leadership, difficulties with workload distribution and team coordination:

With no formally appointed team leader or prior experience together, some teams experience challenges due
to a lack of leadership. Everyone waits for someone else to tell them what needs to be done and how. The time
is running out; the team is not making any progress. Frustration builds, and team members start blaming each
other for the problems.

Your team members may be reluctant to take the initiative for several reasons. For most of them, this is the
first time they have worked in a virtual team, and the first time they have worked with foreigners. For most of
them, English is a foreign language, and they may have difficulties communicating or are just shy to start a
conversation. Most of them don’t have prior leadership experience. Some team members come from cultures
where modesty is valued, and they may be worried that if they try to assume a leadership role, they will be
perceived as too aggressive or inconsiderate.

It works best if you personally take the initiative. Don’t be afraid to take the first step. If you see that
something is not done right, just send your team members your vision for how things should be done. If
nobody knows what needs to be done, just send your suggestions for who should do what. Don’t be pushy,
just say: “I see we have a problem here, why don’t we do the following…” Your teammates are likely as lost

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 as you are, and they will appreciate that someone is finally taking a leading role. It’s better to try and fail than
to never try. If someone else is trying to manage your team, be supportive.

Lack of commitment from some team members, “Free-Riders”: In any team, at least some team members have a
busy work schedule, family obligations, or get sick. As a result, some team members don’t actively participate
in the project. Some may send an email or two at first and then disappear; some never send any messages.
This is called “social loafing” or “free-riding.” It is a common problem in teams in general, and especially in
GVTs where team members have not met each other in person and have not developed the close social
obligations (friendship) that tend to improve participation in traditional collocated teams.

Studies report that up to 30% of the members in corporate GVTs tend to be free-riders; that is, they do some
work but do not meet the expectations of their team.

Our data shows that in X-Culture, on average, there is one team member per team whose participation rate is
below expectations (does something, but less than expected by the team), and about 3% of all participants
(one per 10 teams or so) don’t participate at all and have to be excluded from the project.

In many cases, the “missing” team members turn up toward the end of the project. After all, they need to get a
grade for their course. That creates even more problems as most of the work is done by then, and the team no
longer needs the help of the “missing” team member.

It works best if you do the following:

• First of all, try to foster close social ties among your team members. Studies show that spending only a
few minutes asking team members about their interests, hobbies, studies, work experience, and
interesting facts from their lives helps a lot and leads to a noticeable improvement in team commitment.
• Also, right at the start of the project, discuss what each team member is expected to do and what
happens if they don’t. Develop a detailed Team Charter that clearly states the roles and tasks of each
team member and what the team will do if a team member doesn’t do their share or work.
• Keep sending emails to the “missing” team members every few days, even if you never hear from them.
• You will be asked who on your team is not actively participating in the project every week. Make sure to
provide the names of the “missing” students. The information will be used to identify problems and help
the situation. In cases when nothing helps, and the “missing” team member doesn’t participate, the
person will be excluded from X-Culture.
• Don’t wait too long. If, after several days, you don’t hear from a team member or two, start working on
the project with the team members who replied to your emails. Keep sending updates to the “missing”
students, but don’t wait too long for them. Just do what you can with the available resources.
• If, despite your best efforts to get in touch with the student, you never hear from them or their input
remains very limited, give low peer evaluations to the “missing” student, and their poor performance
will be reflected in their course grade.

Poor quality of work from some team members: X-Culture students come from around the world. Like in
corporate GVTs, X-Culture team members vary in their skills and experiences: some have excellent skills and
work ethics, while others don’t. For most of your team members, English is not their first language. Some
have received better training than others.

It is very likely that some of your team members will not do a good job, just like real business teams. At least
one of your team members will prepare a report section that will be so weak that your team will have to redo
it if you want to win the competition. It is possible that a team member does not complete his/her work at all.
For example, a team member may get sick right before the final deadline, or simply not complete the work for
no reason. This happens in all kinds of teams, including business teams at top firms.

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 Worst of all, you will likely learn how poor the work of some of your team members is only a few days before
the final deadline when you finally see (or not see) their work.

It works best if you do the following:

• Do not wait till the last day; just hope it will be fine. Check the work of your team members regularly.
• Use Dropbox or Google Docs to store all your team’s work from day one. This way, you can always see
everybody’s work progress and intervene if somebody is underperforming.
• It is also a good idea to assign two students to each task. This will not only stimulate idea exchange and
improve the quality of the work but will also provide a backup if one of the team members doesn’t do
their work.
• Some teams also assign one team member to be a backup. Their job is just to stand by and wait until
something goes wrong. When it does (and something goes wrong), this will be the team member who
will pick up the slack.

Plagiarism and improper use of generative AI: It is common that when the team report draft (due one week
before the project’s final deadline) is submitted, the team discovers that one or more team member’s work
contains plagiarism or was written by “ChatGPT”. This often happens in corporate virtual global teams, too.
In some countries, attitudes towards copyright and intellectual property are rather relaxed, and some people
just do not know or do not care that plagiarism is a serious problem. Additionally, some students’ English is
poor, and they feel it’s better to copy and paste somebody else’s work than to do their own writing.

The problem is that it is often too late to learn that part of your team report was plagiarized, and your team has
no time to redo it.

It works best if you do the following:

• Discuss your team’s policies early on so that every team member knows plagiarism will be caught and
will not be tolerated. Likewise, ethical and responsible use of generative AI is allowed and even
encouraged. By all means, you should use AI to assist you in your research and help you with copy-
editing your writing, but you cannot just ask AI to write your parts of the report for you.
• Check the work of your team members regularly to detect the problem early on.
• If a problem is detected, work as a team to fix it before submitting your final team report.

Failing to harness the power of a team: The value of teamwork is in the exchange of ideas, discussions,
brainstorming, checking each other’s work, and correcting mistakes. You will be working with people from
around the world – don’t waste that opportunity to interact and put your minds together. One of the biggest
mistakes a team can make is to divide the questions among the team members so that each team member
answers one or two questions, then the answers are just put together, and the report is submitted without team
members reading each other’s work.

Experience shows that the best reports are produced when teams rely on the wisdom of the collective. One of
the more successful strategies is described below. You can use a different strategy; this one is just an example
of what has been shown to work.
1. Once the client organization is selected, each team member generates ideas for answering each
question. It can be done in a teleconference using Zoom, Skype, Facebook Groups, Viber, WhatsApp,
or Google Docs, where all questions are 0pcomments and provide feedback on each other’s input. The
discussion can be open and go on for several days.
2. Only after all questions have been brainstormed and initial ideas have been gathered and discussed will
the team divide the tasks among the team members based on their expertise and interests.
3. It works best if the team appoints one of the team members as a coordinator who regularly checks the
work of others and sends reminders when needed and one (usually a native English speaker) who does
final copy editing.

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 4. It also helps to appoint a native English speaker as a copy editor.
5. Each team member’s work is stored in Dropbox or Google Docs, and everybody is required to read
everybody else’s work and provide feedback regularly.
6. Once the final draft of the team report is put together, every team member reads the entire report,
makes corrections, and adds comments and suggestions for further improvement.
7. It works best if a single copy of the document in Dropbox is co-edited by the entire team using MS
Word’s Track Changes or Google Docs.

This is only a suggestion for how your team may organize its work process. You may have a better way of
doing things, or a different approach may suit your team.

Common Challenges in the last two weeks of the project:

One of my team members was responsible for report section 3, and we just learned he didn’t do his job. I am
NOT going to do his work. I think it’s unfair if my team is punished for his lack of responsibility.

This is something any team should plan on. It happens all the time in every kind of team. This is why checking
each other’s work is essential to know if somebody is not doing well. It would be naïve to think that every
single member of your team will do an excellent job. Most will, but one or two won’t. The entire purpose of X-
Culture is to allow you to experience these challenges now, so when you do it as part of your job, you are
prepared because it will NOT be any different.
If you find out about the problem just a few days before the deadline, all your team can do is either convince the
team member to redo the work or assign this section to someone who can.

We discovered that one of our team members completely plagiarized their section or used ChatGPT to write it,
and the results sound like AI wrote it. It makes no sense, and it is not what we expected. We only have one day
left, and his part needs to be redone. I don’t want to be punished for their cheating.

You hear a lot about copyright infringement in the business world. Some companies/people simply do not
respect copyright laws or do not know what plagiarism is and what to do about it. So, it is likely that one of
your team members will plagiarize. This is why we allow you to check your report draft for plagiarism a week
in advance. If a problem is detected, you still have time to fix it. And yes, your team has to fix the problem
before submitting the final report.

We submitted our report, and there was some plagiarism there, but we fixed the problem. Can we submit it
again to check if it is OK now?

No, please only submit one submission per team. Take it seriously. We can’t allow you to submit your work
multiple times and keep rephrasing copied parts until the software no longer finds a match. Do it right the first
time. If there is a problem, do it right the second time. If you still have a problem, there is a problem.

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 Have a Strong Start by “Breaking the Ice”

The first days of a team project are crucial. Failing to connect during these early stages can lead to various
problems later on. Conversely, establishing a good connection in the initial days fosters a positive team climate,
trust, and meta-knowledge, where team members understand each other’s expertise, roles, and the best way to
distribute the workload.

Our research shows that most problems, conflicts, and instances of free-riding in teams can be traced back to a
failure to build this connection at the beginning of the project. Often, people don’t perform well not because
they are lazy or irresponsible, but because they missed the opportunity to connect with the team early on.

Two things are particularly helpful:

1. A live group video call: It makes a significant difference when the entire team connects via video, sees
each other’s faces, and meets each other as individuals. This builds trust, fosters interest in one another,
and creates a positive team climate.

2. Structured meet-and-greet “ice-breaker” activities: Don’t rely on things working out on their own. Plan
to include structured ice-breaker games and activities during the first week of your team’s formation.

Here are some examples of activities designed to help team members learn about each other, develop trust, and
build team meta-knowledge (knowledge about who knows what).

Team Resume
Collaborate with your team members to create a team resume as if you were one person. Start by listing
categories like Education, Work Experience, Skills, and Hobbies. Each team member contributes to each
category, adding their background, experiences, and talents. For example, include all the degrees, certificates,
schools, and universities represented by your team, and combine all your work experiences, skills, languages
spoken, and more.

As you build the resume, you’ll discover interesting facts about your team members and better understand
everyone’s strengths and areas of expertise. This will be invaluable later when deciding who should take on
which tasks.

5 Common Things Unique To Our Team

In this activity, your team will work together to identify five unique characteristics or experiences that apply to
all team members but are uncommon to most people outside the team. The goal is to discover shared interests,
experiences, and skills to foster a deeper connection among team members and develop the team’s meta-
knowledge.

Start discussing and sharing personal experiences, interests, and hobbies. Through discussion, pinpoint
characteristics or experiences that everyone shares but are not common to the general population. You cannot
use such characteristics as “we all have two arms” or “we all know how to ride a bike” because these would
apply to most people. However, if you discover that everyone on your team “has lived in at least three different
countries,” or “speaks more than two languages,” or “plays a musical instrument,” – these would be
characteristics that members of other teams are unlikely to share.

You will find it harder than you think to find such five common characteristics, but in the process, you will
learn a lot about each other, which will aid your team in planning and coordination later.

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Two Truths and a Lie
Each team member shares three statements about themselves—two truths and one lie. The rest of the team tries
to guess which statement is the lie. This activity is a fun way to learn unique and surprising facts about each
other.

Show and Tell

Team members take turns showing an item that is meaningful to them, such as a souvenir, a favorite book, or
something from their workspace. They explain why it’s important to them. This activity fosters personal
connection and provides insight into each other’s lives outside of work.

Who Said That?

Before the meeting, ask each team member to submit an interesting fact about themselves. During the meeting,
read out each fact and have the team guess which fact belongs to which team member. This game can reveal
surprising aspects of your teammates’ lives.

Personal User Manual

Each team member creates a short “user manual” about themselves, detailing their working style,
communication preferences, strengths, and quirks. Then, they share it with the team. This helps others
understand how to collaborate effectively and builds empathy within the team.

Virtual Picnic
These games are best played during a “virtual picnic” session, where each member of your global virtual team
brings their favorite food to a Zoom session, creating a shared meal experience, even if it’s virtual. Due to time
zone differences, some team members might be enjoying breakfast, while others have lunch or dinner. This
activity offers a fun glimpse into each other’s favorite meals of the day, creating a relaxed and enjoyable
atmosphere perfect for playing the other team-building games. The virtual picnic setting not only sparks
interesting conversations but also enhances the sense of connection within your global team.

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 PART III: THE TECHNICAL SIDE

You can start by watching this short conversation about using online communication tools in GVTs (watch on
YouTube ►).

Why is email not enough?

Communication and coordination in GVT require more than an occasional exchange of messages via email.

Problems with email

• Email is slow. It usually takes several hours to several days to receive a reply to an email. You cannot
“talk” via email. The most interesting ideas emerge when people “talk.” I say something. You say
something back. That gives me an idea, and I will share it with you. We discuss it. A new solution is
born. Email does not work like this. By the time I got your reply, I had already forgotten what I meant to
say in the first place.

• Email is only text. Most of the information in a conversation is transmitted non-verbally. In

communication, words convey only about 5% to 10% of the information. The rest of the information is
transmitted through intonation, volume, and speed of your voice, body language, emotional display, and
other cues. This 3-minute video explains the difference between verbal and non-verbal communication,
and this 2-minute video provides a good overview of why non-verbal communication is important.
Emails allow for transmitting only words. So, up to 90% of all information is lost.

• Email creates conflicting copies of documents. Email allows sending documents as attachments.
However, what happens if more than two people work on the same document and share it as an email
attachment? John writes the initial draft of the document and sends it to the team.
Stephan opens John’s file, adds more text to the document, and sends it to the team.
Sofia also wants to add more text to the document but now has John’s and Stephan’s versions of the file
in her email box. She mistakenly opens John’s older version, adds more text, and then sends the file to
everyone. Now, the rest of the team has different file versions: one created by John, one by Stephan, and
one by Sofia. When Sunil wants to work on the document, he can no longer remember which one is the
final version of the file. Before the team realizes it, there are several different conflicting copies of the
document. Now, someone must download the many different versions of the document and spend hours
trying to merge the different file revisions.

• Poor record of conversation: It sometimes happens that you miss the conversation your team was
having, and you want to review who said what, see the comments and replies, and add your own
comments and responses. Although email keeps track of the older messages, if more than two people are
conversing, the team soon sees too many emails, each with its record of older messages. The records
become redundant and messy. It takes a long time to track who said what and reply to earlier comments.

• Email is bad for polling: It is notoriously difficult to schedule a meeting or make a collective decision
via email. For example, John wants to schedule a Skype call. He suggests Monday, 9 am. Stephan
replies that Monday, 9 am, works for him. Sofia replies that Monday, 9 am, works for her. But Sunil
says he cannot make it at that time. So, John gives 10 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm as possible alternative
meeting times. Stephan says 3 pm works for him. Sofia says 1 pm works for her. Sunil says 1 am and 3
pm would work for him. The team has exchanged eight emails and still has not agreed on a time that
works for everyone. The same problem occurs when the team is trying to select the best product design
or decide on the best business partner.

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 Better ways to communicate in Global Virtual Teams

Email is still an important and probably the most reliable form of online communication. However, email is
often not enough. Other tools are better if the team wants to:

• Have a real-time discussion (instant text-only messaging)

• Have a voice conversation (audio)
• Have a video conversation (audio and video)
• Find a time for a meeting that fits everyone’s schedule
• Co-edit a document (multiple people write the same document)
• Make a collective decision or vote on the preferred option
• Comment on each other’s work and keep track of discussions

Please see this step-by-step guide for how to use the most popular online collaboration and communication
tools. DOWNLOAD HERE

Or watch the short videos linked below for an on-screen guide for each tool:

Tool Best for and How to use it

Best for: Translating text
• Google Translate
• How it works: Just paste the text, and select the language you want it
translated into. Done.
You can also use it for conversations: https://youtu.be/K5nFWAgSlWI

Doodle • Best for: Finding the best time for a group meeting, but can also be
used for voting on the best option.

How it works: https://youtu.be/Mjn4LG4pmeE

Bonus: Automatically adjusts time zones

MS Word “Track Best for: If multiple people editing the same MS Word file and you
Changes want to see who changed/added what

How to use it: https://youtu.be/5_knruAysnA

• Zoom Best for: Pre-scheduled video meetings

How to use it: https://youtu.be/fMUxzrgZvZQ

X-Culture version: https://youtu.be/ncpzQ1Y5QWk

Bonus: Easy to schedule a meeting and add it to the calendar.

• Skype Best for: Instant messaging, audio and voice conversation, group
discussions, document sharing

How to use it: https://youtu.be/S38e-t6rhKA

Bonus: Always on. When a team member adds a comment, you get an
instant message on your computer/smartphone.

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 Google Docs • Best for: Multiple people writing the same document.

What it is: https://youtu.be/eRqUE6IHTEA

How to use it: https://youtu.be/OBh8bMC7XEU

X-Culture version: https://youtu.be/YOfLwhp7FW0

Dropbox Best for: Multiple people writing the same document, sharing large
documents.

What is it: https://youtu.be/ps4X1KFZ8J0

How to use it: https://youtu.be/zjSFC6pPkyk

Bonus: Works with real Microsoft Office files and any other formats of
files (Google Docs aren’t “real” MS Office files).

• Facebook Groups Best for: Discussing ideas, sharing comments, keeping a record of
discussions, share files

How to use it: https://youtu.be/8KO3tK8YBJc

Bonus: Facebook Messenger also allows to make audio/video calls to

your team members
Viber Best for: Group discussion, group calls, sharing files

What it is: https://youtu.be/-MQw1HtawK0

How to use Viber Groups: https://youtu.be/pw2aPtkekGk?t=10s

WhatsApp Best for: Group discussion, group calls, sharing files

What it is and how to use it: https://youtu.be/mhnFh1MGx4w

• Google Hangout Best for: Instant messaging, audio and voice conversation, group
discussions, document sharing

How to use it: https://youtu.be/Kkgdc92KMnQ

Bonus: Up to 10 people can participate in a video call (in Skype or

Facebook usually only two, unless you have a professional account).
Slack Best for: For coordination and communication in teams.

What it is: https://youtu.be/9RJZMSsH7-g

How to use it: https://youtu.be/s69uoRkm0WE

Warning: A free version is available and should be enough for

X-Culture teams, but a small subscription fee is required for
advanced features.

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 Trello Best for: For coordination and communication, distributing work, and
tracking everyone’s performance in teams.

What it is: https://youtu.be/FMETUJ7u3U4

How to use it: https://youtu.be/xky48zyL9iA

Warning: A free version is available and should be enough for
X-Culture teams, but a small subscription fee is required for advanced
features.

See the next page for tips on the use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT

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 The X-Culture Guide on the Use of Generative AI

As of July, 2023. As genAI tools and our understanding of them evolve, our policies will likely change.

The ‘Friend’ Test

To determine the appropriateness of AI assistance, apply the ‘Friend’ Test. Consider if the task at hand is
something unethical to request from a friend. This test helps maintain academic integrity while leveraging AI
tools.

Would it be ethical to:

• Ask a friend to write your paper: No
• Hire a friend as a ghostwriter: No
• Request a friend’s critique on your work: Yes
• Seek a friend’s opinion or tutoring: Yes

Recommended Tools

chat.openai.com www.claude.ai perplexity.ai copilot.microsoft.com gemini.google.com

Guidelines on AI Use
Not OK to Use AI to:
• Complete assignments on your behalf.
• Write in place of your own efforts.
• Rephrase materials to evade plagiarism detection.

OK to Use AI to:
• Tutoring on specific topics or asking ‘How to’ questions.
• Translate texts.
• Critique your work, offering feedback for improvement.
• Perform spellcheck/proofreading tasks with due diligence on accuracy.

Conditional Use of AI
While some tasks are generally acceptable with AI assistance, they come with the condition of critical oversight
and ethical consideration:
• Asking for opinions: Ask, but do not blindly follow AI suggestions (and disclose AI help if applicable).
• Assisting with laborious tasks: Always verify the accuracy of AI-generated summaries or research.
• Doing research: Use AI to suggest materials but thoroughly check for accuracy and relevance.

Conclusion

The use of GAI tools is permitted within the X-Culture project if it is done ethically and appropriately and not
as a substitute for personal effort.
It’s imperative to always check the AI’s work for accuracy and relevance to maintain academic integrity.

Acknowledgments: This AI Use Guide was written by GPT4. After recording this video guide, GPT4 was
asked to develop a one-page guide based on the slides used for the video presentation. This document is a
slightly copy-edited version of the document created by AI.

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 How To Get Feedback From AI

We encourage you to also get feedback from AI on your work and use it to improve your team’s report.

To obtain such feedback, follow these steps:

1. Access one of the free generative AI tools

Tools that allow to uploading .doc or .pdf files in the free version:
Free version
claude.ai perplexity.ai copilot.microsoft.com

Only paid version

chat.openai.com gemini.google.com

2. Upload the draft of your team report in MS Word or PDF format to the chat window
or copy-and-paste the text directly into the text window

3. You can ask for general feedback using a simple prompt like this:

“Provide critical and developmental feedback on this draft of a business proposal; point out problem areas
and suggest ways for improving the report”.

However, it would work best if you provide details of the specific question you are trying to answer or task you
are trying to accomplish. You can also upload a separate file or copy-and-paste the specific questions from your
client’s Challenge Instructions, as well as ask for feedback on specific features of your writing, such as:

“Attached is the question I am trying to answer in the Instructions.pdf file and my report in Report.pdf.
Does the report offer constructive, actionable recommendations? What are the main strengths and
weaknesses of the report? How could the report be improved?”

or

“Provide detailed feedback on the economic viability of the proposed pricing strategy and clarity and
strength of the supporting arguments”

or

“Provide specific suggestions for improving the clarity and organization of my consulting report”

You can use plain language to communicate with the AI chatbot, and you can ask multiple clarifying questions
or request feedback on specific aspects of your report.

IMPORTANT: While we allow and encourage students to use AI, it must be used ethically and responsibly.
Follow this X-Culture Guide on how to use AI effectively, ethically, and responsibly.

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 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
(Optional, not tested on Readiness Test)

About X-Culture:
• University Professor Handbook (PDF)
• X-Culture Academy Handbook (PDF)
• Coaching Program Training Module 1. The X-Culture Project: Purpose, History, Method, Vision (PDF)
• Coaching Program Training Module 2. The X-Culture Coaching Program (PDF)
• Coaching Program Training Module 2a. The Head Coach Program, Portfolio, and Records (PDF)

The Human Side of Working in GVTs:

• Coaching Program Training Module 3. Known GVT Problems and Best Practices (PDF)
• Coaching Program Training Module 4. Managing International Teams (YouTube)
• Coaching Program Training Module 5. Free-Riding in GVTs (PDF)
The Basics of International Business
• A short video lecture that covers the basics of International Business (YouTube)
• A short video on International Marketing and Communication (YouTube)
• Coaching Program Training Module 6: Basics of International Business (PDF)
• Psychology of Pricing (PDF, by Nick Kolenda, www.nickkolenda.com)

How to write a winning X-Culture report

• Coaching Program Training Module 8: How to Write an International Business Proposal (YouTube)
• Coaching Program Training Module 7: Academic Referencing Styles (PDF)

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